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New hospitality JV firm plans 5-star properties in UAE

Five Continents Hotels and Resorts and Hansa Hotels by Five Continents have joined hands to launch Five Continents Hospitality and also announced signing of three new five-star properties under the new firm.

Elia Timani and Andrew Huckerby. — Supplied photo

The new entity will be a venture management firm, which will help to support hotels with the benefit of their accumulated experiences and sector relationships, according to top officials of the company. The newly-formed company has developed its own unique programmes to deliver contracted services to international quality standards, they added.

“As well as launching Five Continents Hospitality, we are also delighted to announce the signing of new agreements for three properties in the UAE. These properties highlight the strengths of the company and its unique operating model. We are also in the final stages of negotiation for a number of other properties in the region,” Five Continents Hospitality managing director Elia Timani told reporters at a recent news conference.

It was announced that one hotel and another hotel apartment in Dubai will be added into the new company with more than 700 rooms, while details of another five-star property in Ras Al Khaimah were not disclosed.

The company will take over management of a five-star hotel in the Business Bay area, which has more than 350 rooms, outlets and a banqueting centre. Another five-star luxury property — a hotel apartment — with multiple outlets in Dubai Marina will be added to the hospitality company.

Recalling the early days, Timani said: “We accepted challenges to work on those properties, which were declined by other big international brands.”

“Our motto is ‘going where no one else dares!’. Recent projects with Cassells Group in Dubai and Abu Dhabi have drawn to a successful close on schedule. Both properties were in a poor operational condition with one closed by the operator at the time of acquisition. These businesses are now operating exceptionally and available to the owners for onward sale to a host of interested international purchasers,” Timani told reporters.

Paying off

The successful conclusion of the opening phase of acquisitions has enabled the company to move on to further projects in the region demonstrating that the approach to business by the Five Continents Hospitality team is paying off, he added.

He said that the next phase includes projects that are significantly larger in size and involve making financial investments to the businesses to enable them to fulfil their potential for their owners and investors.

Five Continents Hospitality builds on its existing strong network of investors and financers throughout the world to source new capital for these operations, he said, adding that these partnerships will enable the company to develop the financial resources necessary for selective investments which will give a short-, medium- and long-term return on investment. Additional capital could be used to furnish new buildings, for the introduction of new services or even as a contribution to the cost of construction, he added.

Andrew Huckerby, vice-president of operations at Five Continents Hospitality, said: “Not all hospitality projects or businesses operate in an environment or way that achieves the investors or owners’ objectives. For this, Five Continents Hospitality has developed unique quality management principles and structures to specifically satisfy all parties and deliver a profitable proposition for every stakeholder.”